Feeling as if there aren’t enough hours in the day?  Hitting the ground running as soon as you are out of bed?  Long day at work plus other activities awaiting you and your family in the evening? Well, blame the Puritans (those folks who came here on the Mayflower).  Blame the Protestant work ethic.  Blame the Biblical book of Proverbs and the apostle Paul for all their admonitions against idleness.  The work ethic came from a time where days of long labour were balanced by going to bed when the sunset because there was no electric light, meaning that you got...

We want our children to have good morals and good ways of living. We want them to know how to work with others and to have happy healthy relationships.  But we tend to focus on their behaviour. We reward or praise good behaviour and punish or criticize bad behaviour. But if we really want good behaviour (and good morals and good living) for our children, we don’t start with the behaviour. Neither praise nor punishment will create the long term inner faith, morals and happiness we want for our children.  Life-long good living for our kids comes in this way:  ...

How can the relationship between children and their parents survive separation and divorce?   Posted on April 8, 2015 at www.neufeldinstitute.com   by Dagmar Neubronner   Dagmar is on Faculty with the Neufeld Institute and director of the German language Neufeld training and education.   When my marriage broke up, my biggest concern and feeling of guilt was: What are we doing to our children? Children are creatures of attachment – attachment does not just happen in a short window of time right after birth. It is deepening with every year and needs refreshing interaction. My children would not be able...

Someday we won’t be talking about the June 2013 flood that hit High River, or at least not as much. But for now, we do need to talk and acknowledge how it has shaped and changed us individually and as a community. The waters that poured out of the mountains and raged down the river beds on that Thursday, June 20th not only shifted and reshaped the landscape of our town, but also the landscape of our personal lives and our relationships (marriage, committed relationships, friendships.) To deny or ignore these changes is not helpful in the recovery of the town...

We all need an Alpha in our lives, a higher power. It’s how we function best as human beings. When we know that there is someone/something greater than ourselves, we have two essentials for our lives: a) meaning & purpose and b) a place to rest from worries, fears & having to be the one in charge. I need to know who my Alpha is, so that I can be the best Alpha for my children – the one who a) helps them find meaning & purpose in their lives and b) gives them a place to rest from worry &...

Where’s the Manual? I remember lying in bed, in those first months after my first child was born, and thinking that if only a Manual came with my child, I could be the best parent in the world. The Manual would give instructions and I would do it – and it would be so much easier than…..   So much easier than reality – which is the learning as we go that we all do as parents. Just when we think we’ve got it figured out, we hit a new stage and need new skills and strategies. Then, if we have...

How is making our children go to church like making them brush their teeth? I share with you the link to this article written by Jenny Evans. I found it helpful and thought-provoking.  http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865623037/Why-I-make-my-kids-go-to-church.html?pg=all Rev. Susan...

  As a parent, it is my job to decide what choices I will allow my children to make. I never let them make a choice if I can’t live with whatever decision they make. I never want to end up in the position of begging, pleading, offering bribes or in any other way trying to get them to change their minds because they made a choice that I didn’t want them to make. Here’s what I mean:   Scenario #1: Do you want to wear your blue bib or your red bib for supper? I can live with either choice....

I’ve seen it happen right before my eyes. One day my child is fully capable of organizing their belongings, being on time for activities, carrying out household chores in a timely manner, remembering things they are asked to do and getting enough sleep at night. Then, it is as if a switch has been flipped, and my child can’t remember something I said a minute ago, totally forgets to practice piano, is walking out the door without grabbing lunch, has clothes all over the bedroom floor, and complains about being too tired to go to school. What happened?   Well, my...

“She did it on purpose,” the five year old declares to me. “She hit me on purpose! Give her a time-out!” The demand for justice is loud and clear. And indeed, this five-year old has been wronged, but maybe not on purpose, even though it seems that way to him.   To do something “on purpose” takes mature thinking, and truthfully, most hurtful things, especially by those under 10, are not done “on purpose” but rather because of lack of maturity. The little girl hits the little boy out of frustration, her feelings pouring out in the punch, without a moment’s...